INDIANAPOLIS -- Republican State Rep. Jim Lucas responded Saturday to criticism he received over a Facebook post he wrote regarding rape.
Thepost included a photo of a letterLucas sent to the Indy Star in reaction to a story about rape.
He asked for a follow-up article on the "thousands of Hoosier women that are taking steps and learning how not to be a victim."
Some people argued that the post blamed victims for sexual assault.
Keith Morris, a survivor of sexual assault, says he doesn't think Lucas understands how victims feel.
"I think the real prevention piece needs to be with the people who offend than the people who are the potential targets of that offender," said Morris.
Morris says he agrees with Lucas that more conversation on the topic of sexual assault is needed.
On Saturday, Lucas again posted to his Facebook page saying, "I have been publicly excoriated over my recent attempt to bring light to this subject, educate people on the subject and what they can do to empower themselves to mitigate their chances of being sexually assaulted."
Lucas says he's drafting a bill to put an "undeniable amount of pressure on the state to eliminate the backlog of untested sexual assault kits" in the next legislative session.
He says he plans to continue to be outspoken on the issue and adds that he personally has been paying for dozens of women to take self-defense classes.
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